Max Cornett- Nature Interaction: Cycle of Life and Death

 The tapping of the rain on the hood of my truck echoes throughout the cap, sounding like hundreds of impatient fingers drumming on a desk. The windows begin to fog up, frosting over my view into the fall-taken woods, yellow and orange leaves dancing back and forth, moving to the wind and rain. I take a deep breath and turn the engine off as the truck sputters a little, then falls silent.

Reaching over, I grab my raincoat and slip it on, then take off my shoes and trade them for my black rain boots. Opening the door, I am greeted by a gust of rain that comes into the truck, placing tiny spatters of water all over the grey steering wheel and worn-out seats. I jump out of the cab quickly, pulling my hood over my head and shutting the door behind me. Standing in the rain, I can feel the tension begin to drain out of me, creating a puddle underneath my boots and being washed away with the rain, running down the steep hill I just drove up.

I take a deep breath and place my hands in my pockets, headed for the trail ahead of me. Walking through the woods, I am comforted by the sound of wet leaves being pressed under my feet and soothed by the smell of rain on wet bark. Looking up at the trees, I begin to realize that I am surrounded by death. Leaves surrounding me, all dead, the carcass of a dead bird, the leftover skin of a shedding snake, flowers withered up from the cold. Death surrounds me. The beauty of nature, however, is not in the absolute certainty of death, but in the glory of rebirth. I sit on a wet log, freshly torn out of the earth by a storm.

The leaves, covering the floor below me, will be greeted by the rest that are still on the trees, leaving barren trees with needle-like branches. But the life of green leaves is promised to return to them, comforting and protecting them, giving more life and more beauty than ever before.